Interview: The Man Who Named the iMac and Wrote Think Different
11:13 pm, November 3rd, 2009, Leander Kahney
Meet Ken Segall — the man who dreamed up the name “iMac” and wrote the famous Think Different campaign.
Segall is a veteran creative director who worked at Apple’s agency, TBWA\Chiat\Day, back in the day.
“I’ve put in 14 years working with Steve Jobs on both Apple and NeXT,” says Segall. “I’m the author of the Think Different campaign and the guy who came up with the whole “i” thing, starting with iMac.”
Segall collaborated closely with advertising legend Lee Clow, chief creative officer of TBWA\Chiat\Day, whose retirement was widely — but prematurely — reported last week.
In this exclusive interview, Segall talks about working with Steve Jobs, how Jobs initially hated the word “iMac,” and the importance of the Think Different campaign to Apple.
Think Different — The Campaign That Helped Save Apple
Back in 1997, Apple was just six months from bankruptcy. Jobs was busy trying to save the company, mostly by cutting back. He needed to remind people what Apple stood for — both customers and staff. The best way to do that was a new advertising campaign.
Jobs asked TBWA\Chiat\Day to craft a campaign that reminded the world what Apple was about, what the company meant. “It was a pretty pure assignment that doesn’t come along very often,” Segall says.
At the time, Jobs often talked about how successful Apple had been in the past. “What are we going to do to recapture the spirit of that company?” he asked. “We’ve got some great products coming but we need to communicate to the world what the company stands for.”
The TBWA\Chiat\Day team quickly came to the conclusion that Apple isn’t like other companies. It doesn’t follow the rules. It thinks different. The slogan, Think Different, was dreamed up by an art director, Craig Tanimoto, Segall says.
“We had a lot of ideas in that area; it was one of those things up on the wall. Everyone says, ‘Huh, that’s pretty good.’ Like a lot of things, we were not really sold on it straight away, but it grew on everyone.”
On his blog, Segall describes how the campaign evolved:
With the concept in focus, it was now just a matter of developing the campaign that could best deliver it. We went down many roads – with and without a human presence, with and without mice (yes, mice). The breakthrough came when we stepped back and realized that the spark driving Apple existed long before Apple. In fact, it existed long before electricity. The ability to think creatively is one of the great catalysts of civilization. So the logic seemed natural: why not show what kind of company Apple is by celebrating the people Apple admires? Let’s acknowledge the most remarkable people – past and present – who “change things” and “push the human race forward.”
Jobs jumped on it pretty quickly, Segall says. “It was very special — a career defining moment. It was very special because the company was in so much trouble.”
The Think Different campaign became a huge success and ran for five years. Customers loved it. It became a rallying cry for Apple employees, and it won every award, including the first Emmy for a commercial.
Naming the iMac the “iMac”
Jobs promised to follow up Think Different with a line of unique computers. One day, the TBWA team flew up to Cupertino and were led into a secret room. In the middle of a conference table was a big lump covered by a cloth.
After a couple of words, Jobs whipped off the cloth. There in the middle of the table was a see-through plastic teardrop — the first Bondi-Blue iMac. No one had ever seen anything like it.
The TBWA team was horrified, but no one dared say so. “We were pretty shocked but we couldn’t be frank,” Segall recalls. “We were guarded. We were being polite, but we were really thinking, ‘Jesus, do they know what they are doing? It was so radical.”
Jobs said he was betting the company on the machine and so it needed a great name. He suggested one at the meeting, Segall says, but it was terrible. It would “curdle your blood.” Segall declined to say what Jobs wanted to call it.
Jobs said the new computer was a Mac, so the name had to reference the Macintosh brand. The name had to make it clear the machine was designed for the internet. It also had to be applicable to several other upcoming products. And it had to be quick: the packaging needed to be ready in a week.
Segall says he came back with five names. Four were ringers, sacrificial lambs for the name he loved — iMac. “It referenced the Mac, and the “i” meant internet,” Segall says. “But it also meant individual, imaginative and all the other things it came to stand for.” It “i” prefix could also be applied to whatever other internet products Apple was working on.
Jobs rejected them all, including iMac.
“He didn’t like iMac when he saw it,” Segall says. “I personally liked it, so I went back again with three or four new names, but I said we still like ‘iMac.”
He said: ‘I don’t hate it this week, but I still don’t like it.’”
Segall didn’t hear any more about the name from Jobs personally, but friends told him that Jobs was silk-screening the name on prototypes of the new computer. He was testing it out to see if it looked good.
“He rejected it twice but then it just appeared on the machine,” Segall says, laughing. “He never formally accepted it.”
While working on the name, Jobs purposely worked in a small, tight-knit group. He didn’t want to have a lot of opinions at the table. He also didn’t do any market research or testing.
“Apple in my entire time never tested a thing in print or on TV,” Segall says. “Everybody else tests everything.”
Segall is delighted that iMac grew on Jobs. “It’s a cool thing. You don’t get to name too many products, and not ones that become so successful. It’s really great. I’m really delighted. It became the nomenclature for so many other products. Millions of people see that work.”
Segall says over the last few years, the debate about dropping the “i” prefix has come up several times at Apple. “They’ve asked: ‘Should the company drop the “i”?’ But there’s a desire to keep it consistent: iMac, iPod, iPhone. It’s not as clean as it should be, but it works.”
Working With Steve Jobs
Segall lives in New York, and spent many years commuting back and forth to California. During the Think Different days, his team met with Jobs every other Monday at Apple’s HQ in Cupertino.
“I’ve got some great emails from him,” Segall says. “I might publish them one day, but he’ll never talk to me ever again.”
Jobs is a very Walt Disney-like character, Segall says. He’s best at creating teams — that’s how he’s creative. “He surrounds himself with creative people and gives them room to be creative,” Segall says. “He’s an interesting combo of taste, no compromise and charisma.”
Occasionally Jobs can be scary, Segall says, but he’s mostly charismatic and fun. “More times than not, he’s a charming, funny guy,” Segall says. “His charismatic, fun side is what makes everyone want to follow him around.”
But he sometimes freaks out. “I was around for a few good flare-ups but they weren’t directed at me,” Segall recalls. “He mostly got mad if things hadn’t moved forward; if he didn’t see two weeks of work out of you. That’s when he got annoyed. Everything’s in constant motion at Apple. There’s always new products.”
Segall was still consulting for Apple until a couple of years ago when he started working for Dell.
“Dell and Apple: It’s night and day,” Segall says. “It’s a transactional world Dell lives in. It’s all about numbers. Everything they say about Apple making products for themselves is true. Apple — it’s about changing the world. For everyone else, it’s about the money.”
Check out Segall’s blog at KenSegall.com.
Posted by Leander Kahney in Apple, News, Steve Jobs, Top stories, iMac | Comment on this article
“I never thought Apple was going to turn into anything, but looking back on it, it’s clear now,” he says.
Duh.
Ted, on November 4th, 2009 at 2:14 am
Hey Leander,
Thanks again for a very interesting insight about how the design and creative process works at Apple, and particularly in iPapy’s head.
I love reading these stories !
Fred A., on November 4th, 2009 at 5:34 am
It would “curdle your blood.”
so, what could have been?
I’ve posted elsewhere “El Jobsocon”, which has a nice ring to it…….
[PS - ad column to the right, it is happening?]
media_lush, on November 4th, 2009 at 5:35 am
Now I wanna know what Jobs wanted to call the first iMac .. My guess is that it was a human name like the Lisa only inappropriate – “The Muhammad” maybe
pete, on November 4th, 2009 at 8:40 am
With all the money these folks make at Apple…
…one would think they could afford a frickin’ razor!!!!!
omegaone37, on November 4th, 2009 at 10:54 am
or … “The Steve”. I can’t think of anything much worse than that.
As for Ted, Oh yes, like YOU would have gotten it? Not in 40 life times. But then neither would I have.
OlsonBW, on November 4th, 2009 at 11:05 am
So…………..as the International market was concerned in the naming of this new line of things to come…………..Did Israel get the Oy Mac? Latin markets the Ey Yi Yi Mac ? The Medical community the I Ear Nose & Throat Mac?
Lou Fink
notrealbright@gmail.com
Louis fink, on November 4th, 2009 at 11:30 am
.. probably wanted to call it OL’PC.
Steve, on November 4th, 2009 at 11:40 am
This is a great interview, Leander. Nice job. Segall provides new insights into the brilliance of Steve Jobs and the culture of Apple. But after that ending Dell quote, I wonder if he’ll be working for that beleaguered company much longer?
George Wedding, on November 4th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Mover to Dell? Holy Cow!! What a sell out. Interesting interview though.
His comments about Dell and others spells out why PCs and Microsoft don’t and never will get iT (ha ha).
Alan Smith, on November 4th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Very nice interview. Ken’s a real gentleman. Sparing Job’s by not revealing the original name and hat tipping Craig Tanimoto for coining the phrase that many credit Ken for.
In full disclosure, I have the good fortune of knowing Ken, and he’s a great storyteller. Both a great storyteller of brands, and a great storyteller about the brands he tells stories about.
And as one who’s heard the story about Job’s original name for the iMac, I will vouch, he did Steve a big favor talking him out of it. If Ken doesn’t want to reveal the original iMac name in print, then my lips are sealed.
Ken really should write a book. It would sell like iPhones.
Chris Grayson, on November 4th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Yeah, Dell? Obviously its not working well for him or them. He sounds cynical and depressed and Dell is still synonymous with a crap product. You know, if you don’t like Dell and you’re tired of Apple, there are othe creative outlets in the world.
Mark 2000, on November 4th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
If the slogan, Think Different, was dreamed up by an art director, Craig Tanimoto what did Mr. Segall do, (since all the images were stock), call the stock house?
Brent, on November 4th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Pete, what’s inappropriate about the name “Muhammad” ?
Wheelworks, on November 4th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Given Jobs’ penchant for all things spiritual and the fact that the original iMac was curvy and tubby, I’m banking on him wanting to call it “Buddha”…. at least that’s what I named my original iMac….
Tom Benson, on November 4th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
its a nice interview. Learned more about Apple its past and about Jobs. Someone told me before that Apple never do any market research before developing a product, and now its from this post its true…ThX
varghese mathew, on November 4th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
>call the stock house?
Now thats the trick now isn’t it. The images used where great images. Kinda hard to take pictures of people in the prime of life when they are dead.
Kyderdog, on November 4th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Thanks for a great article and the story behind the naming of the iMac!!! I’ve always admired Apple, the “Think Different” campaign and the iMac, so this article really hit home. What a pleasure to read this, and if only, if only the rest of the country followed the same principles that Apple follows in developing their products maybe we wouldn’t be in the trouble we are in now. Learning that this fellow is now working for Dell though, oh my god, I feel sorry for him and for Dell because his genius will be lost in the land where a company only cares about profits. What a shame.
macmanchgo, on November 4th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Ken: thanks for taking a few moments to talk about your work at Apple. I really enjoyed it.
etype, on November 4th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
@#5 omegaone37:
Some people feel they look more “distinguished” with stubble. What’s more annoying is what viewership they have at cultofmac one would think they could afford a decent camera… It looks like they shot that pic with a 3 year old cellphone then tweaked the levels in photoshop.
Anonymous, on November 4th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Dear Anonymous,
Your comment above makes YOU look like a real iHole
Lou Fink [ not so anonymous ]
notrealbright@gmail.com
Louis fink, on November 5th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Very entertaining article. As others have shared, anything about Jobs and what makes him tick is worth my reading. Forget getting distracted by stubble–which is “in” ‘case you didn’t notice. It’s all about the eyes and expression, which are captured to a T in the photograph and close-up. (”iHole” is clever
kk paine, on November 5th, 2009 at 1:49 am
I couldn’t think of a more materialistic brand than apple, and materialism is really about showing-off how much money you have.
So Dell/Apple, it’s all about money and certainly not changing the world. Changing the world is ending famine and wars. Not giving wealthy people new objects of desire.
Pretentious bunch of tossers……
bloop, on November 5th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Who would have thought Steve Jobs originally didn’t like the “i” prefix branding? I think everyone follows when this branding started. I admire how Apple package their products, its really worth buying for.
To author, keep it up. These are facts that we should really know more about Apple.
ianemv, on November 5th, 2009 at 9:14 am
Just a fun little factoid about the Think Different poem…
If you look at the TextEdit icon in Leopard or Snow Leopard… it contains the first several lines of “Think Different”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LeopardTextEdit.png
Andrew, on November 5th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Pretentious?
Changing the world is a matter of perspective. GW Bush started two wars. Terrorist brought down WTC in NY. Warlords perpetuate famine in Africa…
Check your history my friend. Apple introduced the personal computer to the public, so the an average person could buy one, not just corporations.
Think different my friend. There are factories in china and stores all over the globe employing people even in an economy that is less than ideal.
The personal computer is the single most world changing object of desire introduced to mankind in the last 30 years it has advanced civilization more rapidly in the shortest amount of time than most anything else, one could think of.
Apple made it possible for millions to think a little different.
iWonder, on November 5th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Pete, what’s inappropriate about the name “Muhammad” ?
- Nothing really, could just imagine it would rub some radicals the wrong way .. Muhammed is a fine name though
pete, on November 5th, 2009 at 11:59 am
“If you look at the TextEdit icon in Leopard or Snow Leopard… it contains the first several lines of “Think Different””
Now that is cool. One more neat thing to show people.
tim Crawford, on November 5th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Two things:
1 I’ve always read the “i” as “personal”. The reason is that Apple always and only use it on personal stuff, as opposed to the “Pro” branded stuff.
Try it, it works! (personalWork, -Life, -Mac, -Phone)
2 the article said Jobs demanded the product to include something “macintosh”, so all guesses without that are off by a mile. I don’t know anything about Jobs’ suggestion, but my guesses would be in line with Macbeth or Macgic.
iVote, on November 5th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
One more thing: every single iProduct that Apple has ever released passes the “personal” test above. The same can’t be said for it’s ripoffs, including the current iDon’t adverts
iVote, on November 5th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
To find out who really authored “Think Different” visit: http://www.siltanenpartners.com/sp/work/broadcast/apple/index.html
iTruth, on November 5th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
So after I worked with Apple a few years back as the top ASC I just wonder if many get to know about the behind the scenes on campus.
The people there are so incredible it is like a monastery with fun and games. Food at the cafeteria ( for employees only) has so many selections that even Jobs eats there.Training is ongoing and the gift shop the best.It is the Meca of Mac but no one has a tour of the grounds like being a part of the magic kingdom. Apple personnel are true believers as are users. To see the progress since 1997 and the iMac’s impact on computers you would have to remember the race to the Moon. First Kennedy said we would go then we did. Jobs did more. He took us to internet space and beyond.
KimoSaby, on November 5th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Not sure if that last screen name means ” The Lone Ranger Knows “…… [ in Spanish ] or if the oncology report is all knowing……………….think Dafferent
Lou Fink
same e-dress as before
Louis fink, on November 5th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Allan, Allan, Allan, Allan, Allan, Allan, ow, ow Allan, Allan.no no no…
Steeeve, Steeeve, Steeeve, Steeeve!
Allan, on November 6th, 2009 at 6:24 am
MacNetty? Chic MacNet?
Brool, on November 6th, 2009 at 10:53 am
I saw Lee Clow and Rob Siltanen speak at a conference in Portland the week before the Think Different spot launched. (On a Sunday night, on an awards show I think.) They credited the actual “Think Different” line to a receptionist at Chiat/Day.
Jefe, on November 6th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
“- Nothing really, could just imagine it would rub some radicals the wrong way .. Muhammed is a fine name though”
Last time someone used that name on an inanimate object, the Dark Ages Wrath was called upon. {8^().
Anonymous 2, on November 7th, 2009 at 11:38 am
“Think different” sounds dumb to those familiar with adverbs. Fortunately Apple seem to have dropped it, or at least Apple don’t use it much. Just embarrassing really.
jedward, on November 7th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
> “Think different” sounds dumb to those familiar with
> adverbs. Fortunately Apple seem to have dropped it,
> or at least Apple don’t use it much. Just embarrassing
> really.
It is not about “thinking differently”, as in the thinking process, which by itself is inconsequential -you are not going to change the world just by thinking.
It’s all about the purpose and ensuing action of such thinking, as in “think change”, “think new”, “Think Different”.
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Viagra, on November 9th, 2009 at 3:05 am
Bragging to all my friends that my cousin created the name “iMac”! lol
- iAlex and iRemi
cros, on November 9th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Apple doesn’t market test. That says it all.
Neither did Led Zeppelin or Stevie Wonder.
Now 99% of everything is market tested, including all those crap movies on the market. “The Love Guru” went through 8 rounds of testing!
Apple is the model of true creativity, loved this article.
Nick, on November 17th, 2009 at 1:17 pm